Alton Towers

Alton Towers Resort is a theme park and resort located in Alton, England, UK. In 2012, it attracted 2.4 million visitors, making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom and 9th most visited theme park in Europe. It employs in excess of 2400 staff members during the summer months, over 1,000 of whom are full-time. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent, and not to be confused with the town of Alton in Hampshire), in the grounds of Alton Towers, a semi-ruined gothic revival country house. 

The estate was a former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury. The park has developed progressively since the 1950s. In 1990 it was purchased by The Tussauds Group. Fifteen years later Alton Towers was acquired by the investment group Dubai International Capital (DIC) when it purchased Tussauds for £800 million in 2005. The Tussauds Group was bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control. In July 2007, the resort and park was sold to Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury who now lease the park back to Merlin Entertainments to operate on a 35-year lease.

Source: http://www.dogandpartridge.co.uk

The resort includes the theme park as well as the Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Waterpark, Spa, Extraordinary Golf and Conference Centre. It is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainments in the United Kingdom. Major attractions at Alton Towers include Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita and Th13teen, and in 2013, The Smiler opened, becoming the world's first 14 inversion roller coaster.

The park's maximum daily capacity is set at 28,000 guests. Its promotional music has been Edvard Grieg's classical composition In the Hall of the Mountain King for the past two decades. In 2009 the park attracted 2,668,576 people, this coincided with the opening on new kids land 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' and the opening of new family attraction 'Sharkbait Reef – By Sea Life'.

Alton Towers is set in a dedicated Conservation Area, which puts a restriction on the height of any ride or building development in the park. It has been agreed with the local council that no buildings should be built above the tree line and if so should be disguised to fit the landscape; this can be seen on the ride Rita, where part of the track is painted dark green to fit in with the trees.

Noise pollution is also a problem for the park due to the close proximity to the villages of Alton and Farley. There have been several cases where Alton Towers have been taken to court over the noise levels emitted from the park and have been served noise abatement orders in 2004 and 2005 and 2006.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_Towers

Posted in: United Kingdom